


Breaking into Pieces

by littledipdip



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Gen, I can't be sure I'll upload more to this or not, I might have rushed some things though, Psychosis, Self Harm, This is based somewhat on my own experiences of how terrifying it was for me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-17
Updated: 2017-04-17
Packaged: 2018-10-19 23:11:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10650036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littledipdip/pseuds/littledipdip
Summary: After the summer the twins had, it seemed to have effected Dipper on a subconscious level, or rather he didn't want to show his struggles.Regardless of the threat leaving, some times, those threats will affect us much longer there after.FYI: This takes place in first person POV, just so you all don't get confused.Hope you enjoy this short story!





	Breaking into Pieces

The sharp ticking of the clock above the blackened computer desk reminded me of how much time I was wasting with preoccupations of stress that seemed to never leave my brain no matter how hard I attempted basic relaxation techniques. Slow breathing, done that, counting in my head, done that too; nothing would distract me from the constant fixation that racked my mind a million miles an hour; my skull filled with a mild pressure that fogged the crevices within it.

Just laying in the dark, on this pillow-topped mattress with a thin comforter that exhibited darkened blues and blacks, with nothing but that annoying ticking and the shimmering sliver of the moonlight that was interfered by shadows of trees brushing past it due to a slight shift about the wind. With a groan, I tried to stop focusing on that horrid noise, it was mocking my inability to remain calm and simply couldn't leave me alone. I felt so aggravated that I irritably gripped onto my blanket, throwing it out of frustration behind me against the wall that was closely parallel to my bedside, angrily mumbling curses to myself while I walked step after step with obvious agitation. The sounds of bare feet padding against the plastered wooden floor; once I approached my target, I removed it and was tempted to smash it to pieces but thought to avoid concern from the other family members within the quiet household...it was only 2:45 AM. I couldn't dare wake anyone with my stupid impulses to keep myself less angered, opening my wooden sliding door closet, and covering the device over with multiple layers of heavy fall clothing, that should definitely keep it from bothering me.

Once I decided it would be enough damage control, I was much too awake at the moment to simply go back to bed. Returning to bed to simply sit on it, a soft creak from the bed rebounded as it shifted weight to my end, putting my hands through my auburn hair as I ran my nails along the scalp and through the strands of disheveled hair. How come I can't sleep as easily as I used to? Why am I constantly anxious and stressed? Is it perhaps hormones messing with my inability to remain calmer? All these questions rushed through my busy and loud mind, what I wouldn't do to shut this all up right now.

It felt like an eternity before I noticed the sun beginning to lighten up the dark sky outside, my room a dull shade of blue and gray as it made way above the horizon. A groan came deep from the confines of my throat while I rubbed my heavy eyes with both hands, the pressure exerted left me with blackened vision and splotches that soon dissipated as quickly as they came. How had time passed when I literally had just laid in bed with the distraction of my talkative mind; worrying about everything and paying way too much attention to the littlest noises, changes in my vision, or even little sensations that prickled my body internally? It was tempting to cut my own head off just to ease the tension it gave me. Once I'd argued with myself that enough was enough on sitting here, I pushed my body off of the bed and right to standing upward with some effort. I felt so heavy as though someone put weights chained onto my arms and legs, hissing past my teeth as I forced all I could just to go get some food. I had to thank myself that today was a weekend day, pretty sure if I'd gone to school, there would be no way I'd be managing to live through the sleepless day. Surly my sister would take note of the dark circles resting beneath my eyes; I've been having insomnia issues more and more as my stress prohibits me from getting adequate rest now a days, though when I do have days where it's lacking in anxiety, I take full advantage and get as much sleep as I'm able to do so.

By the time I got to the kitchen, there was no hesitation as I tiredly grabbed for a box of Cookie Crisp cereal; turning around to go to the cupboard with all the bowls and coffee cups that filled the shelves, reaching for a plastic bowl that was simply white with some blue flowers on it. Yawning audibly as I took a moment to pause and put my things down, covering my mouth as though trying to avoid letting something out, soon returning to my objective to nurture myself with sugary grains. The clinking sound as the cookie pieces dropped against the plastic of the bowl, feeling myself subconsciously salivate in response, stopping about half way up the bowl with the food item. I can't eat dry cereal much, it makes my mouth dry up as well and it's not really a way I want to enjoy my breakfast; grabbing the milk was the next step, uncapping the gallon and pouring the white liquid into the bowl.

Situating myself soon after in a chair at the dining table in the kitchen, wooden chair sliding against a plastered wooden floor...I'd never really taken notice but, has this whole house always had so many wooden floors? Maybe it's always been that way, anymore after my summer experience, I'd been so occupied with what's happening in my head, I had no other attention to give to the external world. Instead of dwelling on the floors, I'd gotten right back to initiative of eating and fulfilling my nourishment. As I'd taken a few bites, swallowing down every bite I'd shoveled in, there would be unsettling cramps and pains in my abdomen; just to clear up concerns, I had this quite often, went to a clinic and they assume it's just a case of Irritable Bowel Syndrome. After the summer I had, it wouldn't surprise me if due to all the stress I experienced, caused this. The idea of being possessed again would cause me stress to no end, leaving me dissociated some times and unable to respond when it came to even remembering the event.

As I recall the moment the possession happened, I felt a lack of appetite, my stomach tightened and I was beginning to feel distant from my surroundings, my brain electrified with anxiety as it set fire to logic or reasoning. Most times I had these random moments of anxiety, I'd get extremely argumentative if someone tried to rationalize that it's solely just a feeling as opposed to an actual fact, that what I had was either faked or in my sister's case, trying to assure it's not going to happen again; Honestly, if I want to be truthful, I felt like no one believed me, or that they were against me. I couldn't really tell anyone that though, especially Mabel, she wasn't going to take lightly the fact I felt like she was against me, too.

I'd forgotten about eating at this point, putting my bowl down, it was still full enough with the cookies yet I didn't care, my abdomen was tight and I was too much on edge to simply calm down and eat now. Panic was settling in and I felt my heart race, yet if anyone came into the kitchen, I'd play it off as I'm fine and not anxious what-so-ever. My stomach hurt, in fact, everything hurt now, my entire body was frozen up and I simply stared down at the floor whilst my mind wandered through the event all over again. The dissociation was broken somewhat by the sound of someone stepping on the floor, that familiar sound that's made when bare feet contact plaster? It was that sound. Recognizing the slightly faster pace of steps, I figured it was my twin sister then, hearing humming to go along with. How was she always so cheery despite what occurred in the summer time? I know from time to time she had episodes of stress due to trauma however, yet she was way more positive a good portion of the time than I was. In fact, she noted I seemed more anxious and depressed after a couple months of settling down back here at home, figuring the change of seasons and length of days that also coexisted with lack of sunshine, was making it worse.

Aside from pondering how cheerful she was, I snapped out of my dissociation for the most part albeit still not feeling in touch with my surroundings as though they were real. Her voice upbeat as always when she skipped in front of me, stopping and inquiring in an optimistic tone, “Are you okay Dipper? You seem a bit lost in thought, but you know you should eat, it will give you good nutrition for your brain, you dork!”

It took a second for my brain to process her entire sentence before replying with a nod and attempting a smile for now, snorting softly with a chuckle to follow, “Hah, I'm fine and you know it, it's the morning and the sun's out for once. Of course I'm doing fine, but I'm just not that hungry right now.”

I could see the confusion and concern placed on her face, hazel green orbs glistened with that very worry I could plainly see, had I said something wrong? Just then, my intuitive feeling got its answer when she began to speak, placing her hands on her hips, her hands putting some crinkles on the magenta gown with the weight she applied with her hands, her lips pursed in doubt.

“Dipper, I know you've been having problems lately but you should try to eat more! I worry about you bro-bro...you used to eat more than you do now and you know I worry easily. Please, eat for me if you can?”

Doubt and agitation shifted through my mind, I just didn't feel ready to eat after what I just went through but if I didn't start showing I'd nourish myself, she might suspect something's going on. Instead of arguing with her about not being hungry, I sighed out of defeat only a moment after contemplating in my own head. A smirk following on my features to try and ease any worry she obviously conveyed.

“Fine, but because you care **so** much about me.”

Once I showed I would eat, she felt at ease and I could definitely tell she was more relaxed, her features softening and dying down the worry she had. My stomach tightened in a knot as I tried to force myself to eat now, I had a bad nervous stomach now a days so I mean, I never felt ill enough to regurgitate anything I ate, but it did make me nauseated some times. I fought with my subconscious about this problem, I didn't want to worry Mabel, she's the last person I'd want to cause sickening concern. Seeming as though I was hungrier than I said earlier, showing her I wasn't going to stop until I'd finished all of it. She sat down with the similar brand of cereal and watched me for a moment before tending to herself, a pleasant smile on her face that helped me to relax a bit.

It was a nice relaxing breakfast as long as she was there, even though of course it didn't die down my anxiety, but just her trying to make conversation with me, was enough to make me stop feeling overly dissociated. We both put our mostly empty bowls in the sink, the bit of milk filling the bottom that we hadn't drank, I turned the knob for cold water to fill the bowls enough so the milk wouldn't settle and go spoiled possibly. After said breakfast, she insisted we spend some time together today, a very eager smile on her face when she grabbed my hand and led me right to her bedroom. Deep down, I did feel some relief about her taking as much persistence with making sure I wasn't alone, she was the only person who knew how badly I felt effected after the demonic possession. Even if I wasn't joyous or silly as I used to be at times, I didn't mind being around her, she's honestly probably the only person I have some trust left in...despite my doubts of feeling as though I can't trust much of anyone now. There was some hope lingering within my gut that as long as she would keep me busy, that I'd feel much better mentally and even physically.

Our feet audibly padding along the floor and down the hall to her spacious room that displayed hues of pink and purple, as well as some yellow. Vibrant golden stars had been painted onto her vivid hot pink walls, the sunlight invading the room past the open window showed true colors, making me squint as my brain felt a slight bit overwhelmed by the visual sensory input. Her voice managed to penetrate past my slight anxiety from the little bit of over-stimulation I experienced. It's as though I heard what she said but honestly, even if I seemed to reply appropriately, the words were distant and slipped through my ear canals, every word didn't exactly process or so it felt like. Nonetheless, I followed along with what she said, helping her with collaborating on an art project involving something at school. Spare the details, there was probably way more glitter than necessary and a plethora of a rainbow of colors sprawled all over the large canvas paper.

“Mabel, do you think maybe that's enough glitter? I mean, someone could see this picture from a mile away, might even blind drivers.” I replied with a bit of humor to my voice, awkwardly smiling.

“Oh brother, there's no such thing as too much glitter, plus it's something that I want people to see anyways! What better way to grab attention than sparkly things?”

I shook my head and chuckled softly, helping her finish up the art project. I didn't mind doing these sort of things, it was a bit soothing to have someone close to you and work on a project, it definitely distracted my nervous mind from thinking way too much. However, once it was fully finished, I decided maybe I should go back to my room for now, I'm glad I decided to finish my homework but energy to be motivated to do much of anything was slowly dying down. I felt mentally overworked a little easier now a days and a nap sounded ideal right about now. With a yawn, I stood right up from my seat and placed a hand behind my head to scratch it gently.

“Well, I think I didn't sleep much last night, you know, just thinking about what we'll be doing at school this week. I'm going to go take a nap, alright?”

Of course that sort of response didn't exactly get a simple 'okay' answer, she furrowed her brows in doubt as I began to turn to signal I would leave.

“Bro-bro, you've been a bit more reclusive lately...I know you're a loner but you've been more in your room than usual. Are you sure you're okay?”

Despite her kind intentions, I felt a bit peeved and irritated, frowning slightly and I tried not to feel offended at her questioning, scoffing softly, my body tense with petulance coursing through my veins.

“Yeah, of course, I'm just tired, okay?”

Unfortunately she seemed a bit taken back by my response for a second, had I said something bad again? Though I didn't feel like apologizing, shaking my head once again before I went out and left to my bedroom, not making too much noise as I impatiently walked back into my darker room. I just felt so deeply overwhelmed and sought to be alone, was that too much to ask now? Just because I don't display silliness like I used to, she's thinking I'm becoming sick...or so I feel like she is.  
A groan escaped from me, shutting my door lightly as to not wake our parents whom had a room down the end of the hallway, locking my door shortly after so I couldn't be bothered. The sunlight mocked me, growling subtly beneath my breath and immediately taking initiative to shut my blinds, closed my thick dark blue curtains, making my room mostly dark. This...felt less intimidating to my distressed brain, a sigh of relief coming out when I finally got the result I wanted, simply going to my bed and burrowing beneath the comforter, a soft puffy pillow greeting my head.  
Maybe Mabel was just sensitive, she cared too much about me, I didn't really like others being so worried over me. I'm fine, why should someone be so concerned over my behaviors? Isn't it normal for teens to start acting like this anyways? My frayed nerves needed some rest after a deprived night of sleep, maybe that would calm me down.

Days seemed to go by, I can't exactly describe how it felt just watching each passing day with indifference. My motivation is deteriorating as the days pass, my determination to do better is diminishing as well, nightmares haunting me nightly and giving me reminders of the torment I survived months ago. Mabel was always concerned as I seemed to show a lack of care in my work and I wanted to be alone more, wanting nothing to do with anyone. I had little want to socialize and people made me anxious as is, I felt as though now, they were judging me and thinking bad things, the idea of them plotting bad things against me was a number one fear now.

I didn't want to sit at the table during Lunch hour with Mabel now or her friends, taking alone time instead to sit in the library and read alone there. Besides, if I must say, food kind of makes me panic, especially foods that are made by my parents or even my sister. What if they'd poisoned it? Is that why I got stomach pains like I did? The thoughts ransacked my brain constantly, those fearful thoughts of 'what if' were no stranger to me. I don't want to admit this actually, but I've been having some strange occurrences as well, it definitely isn't helping my anxieties when it comes to people I know or meet. I can't tell if I'm just imagining things or if it's real anymore, is Bill coming back? Did he find me? I'm sure he's going to steal my body again.

As I sat in my bedroom all alone and in dim lighting, curled with my knees against my chest while on the bed itself, I kept seeing shadows in my periphery, hearing faint whispers occasionally for short periods of time. The walls, the floor, everything appeared to be breathing or closing in on me and my heart, my brain, everything was choking up as I noticed this reality shifting. The past couple months it has been growing worse and worse, it began with the occasional shadow person standing for a few seconds in my peripheral vision, and maybe my name being shouted to me despite no one saying so. Now, I was afraid, every day was making me live in a constant state of doubt that I'd see or hear something, my surroundings were probably fake for all I know. This also left me troubled on how to process if someone tells me something, I always hear them wrong, and some times it's as though they're being voiced over by a demon, hearing a duplicate but a bit on the lower end of the tone of voice.

I felt safe here on my bed, even though things were moving and shadows were probably demons coming to possess me. I was so intensely focused onto not moving or not making a sound, scared at even the slightest shuffle of an object or sound would make me jolt with fear, that when my door opened to let some light from outside come in, I nearly gasped and stared at the door way in absolute shock.

“Dipper, what are you doing in here? Mom and dad are worried about you, you've been so reclusive the past while and...I am extremely concerned!”

I heard her but the voice didn't sink in as I was so focused into my current reality, that her words muddled together, giving her a glossy look with an expression that depicted confusion.

“W...What?”

That's all I could voice outward, my nails lightly digging into the cloth of my pajama pants, I was so anxious right now, I didn't know how to respond without a bit of shakiness. The response and I guess how I appeared, made Mabel come to my bed side, her face seeming to wrinkle in displeasure as she got closer.

“Bro...when was the last time you showered?”

“I dunno...a week?”

She gasped and pouted, gripping my wrist as if urgent for me to do something, but I protested and groaned softly.

“Mabel...it's fine, I don't need to shower, okay?”

“What? Of course you do, you're beginning to smell like death! Don't tell me you're afraid.”

“N-No, I'm fine, just...showers aren't necessary.”

“They are, you'll get worse and possibly sick!”

The way she reacted was beginning to offend my ears, making me cringe a bit and resist her further. I finally tugged my hand back and claimed it to myself once again. Shaking my head, if I told her even just looking in the mirror was enough distress for me, she'd probably have me go get help and I am certain I'm in no danger. Some times my gut was insistent I say something and get help, yet my brain wasn't so sure, along with this voice whom called himself Elliot, he also was certain I would be fine on my own. I didn't know when Elliot would appear, I hated the guy, he popped into my head, and he sounded a lot similar to a thought but he was far too smart, he had his own course of dialogue, he convinced me that mirrors are alternate universes as well. Enough on that tangent, however, he basically made me afraid to even step foot in the bathroom, often, I had to avoid seeing the mirror itself, I was far too freaked out, so going in was a quick trip if I seriously had to go. So back to the point, of course I took offense to her insistence on having me bathe. Her voice pushing through to my ears.

“Dipper! What's wrong with you?! I'm worried sick, why are you acting like this?”

“Wrong? Are you saying I'm ill? Mabel, I'm not ill at all, you're wrong.”

“Dip...I didn't say that.”

“Really? Why did you ask what's wrong then? How come you're so worried?”

“Bro...”

“I'm not sick, okay? Just...leave me alone.”

That was enough for me, enough stress as it is, my brain racing constantly and causing me to feel absolutely distraught. I had to get her out of here, her voice was irritating me, so without a single word after, I forced her in an attempt to leave, she was almost fighting against my actions. Fear of having someone worry or judge me for my current conditions, was not my kind of thing.

“Dipper, come on, you need help!”

“No...No I don't, please, just leave.”

“B-But Dip– I...”

“No. I said to leave.”

She was with her mouth agape and I worked some strength in to lead her out of my bedroom, closing and locking the door immediately.  
Pacing back and forth with my head in my hands, I grumbled nonsense to myself, everything was so loud and bright, well, my room was dark but beyond it, was agonizing to my eyes. I wanted to scream, cry, and punch something right now. Covering my ears, I just wanted the suffering to stop, I'd give anything for it to quiet down...or at least some how to end this all. That's when I hear Elliot speak in my head, his voice was sinister and mocking, he reminded me of a snake with how his voice was portrayed, he had quite the silver tongue as well, in all honesty he reminded me too much of Bill; I had the initial conclusion he was Bill's counterpart or something similar, however, he had a different name. His origin was unknown but I assumed he was possibly implanted it into my head while I was asleep some time in Gravity Falls. I heard a resounding snickering in the back of my head now, making me pause my pacing.

“Dipper...have you ever thought of how pathetic you are? Your gut is wrong, your sister is wrong, you're fine...have you ever considered the possibility...of cutting yourself open and seeing what's real?”

With a muttering voice to avoid having anyone else hear me speak back to this demonic entity, I quietly did so.

“N-No...listen, you won't win this, I know you're Bill in disguise, okay? Stop torturing me.”

“Hahaha, no no listen to me, it's for the better of everyone if you just cut yourself open and see the truth.”

“I...no...I can't.”

“Why not then?”

“Because...they'll know about it.”

“Just cover it.”

As soon as he had spoken, he left as well and I was still bothered from his low and menacing tone, leaving me to start using my nails on my forearm in hopes he would stop. It was tempting to grab a knife or box cutter, but I couldn't let anyone know about this. During the process of digging my shortened nails into the underside of my forearm, I felt numb, in fact, at times the thought of even gutting myself or others was amusing, but the times I was consciously in control, I felt tormented and afraid of what I could do; this time, after a small conversation with Elliot, I felt that numbness, nearly smirking at the idea of hurting myself. However, as I began making markings of my nails into the skin, I managed to scrape the skin, not causing any bleeding. Once I'd become conscious, feeling previously I wasn't in control, I snapped out of it, blinking a couple of times and soon realizing what I'd done, yet I didn't feel bothered.

Eventually I came out of my bedroom, I felt so robotic physically, I guess I could say, I didn't feel like this body was in my own control. Everything felt more distant than it used to months ago, I didn't care for anything or anyone, I'd become numb.  
The voices of my parents were muffled in the background as I walked down the hallway with an awkward gait, shifting side to side as though I had trouble walking, my back hunched over a bit with showing a lack of confidence to my stance. How could I focus on confidence when I was too caught up in my version of reality, let alone not being in touch with what others call “reality”. Quietly making my way over to the couch in the living room where my sister sat, she seemed quiet and worried, but looked in my direction...was she judging me? I decided not to say anything though, it might leave less concern if I just play happy and fine, you know? 

“Dipper...I have to ask again, are you okay?”

“Mmmmhm.”

I didn't feel the energy or motivation to reply positively or even fake a smile, giving a blank look, or at least one of those resting bitch faces as people call them.

“I'm so worried...I think you need to get help.”

“No, I'm fine.”

I hated to admit I needed help, even if my gut was certain to agree with Mabel. I hated the idea, relying on medical help and I feared for the worse...what if they put me in a psychiatric ward and kept me there and did tests on me? 

“I...don't want to pressure you but this isn't like you. You're showing no care for your health or school.”

“So? I think a lot of people do that.”

“I mean, more than usual.”

“I don't think so, this is normal.”

Mabel sighed and I could tell from that alone, she was not happy with me, I honestly didn't know what to do. I'd gotten to a point where irritability and sadness is all I knew and it even took over my reactions to what people told me. I hesitated but looked over to her anyways and saw she was crying, well...I think I fucked up then.

“D-Dipper I'm scared! What if I lose you?!”

“Mmmm, I don't think you will.”

“Listen to me! I care, I want you to get help! You're deteriorating and I'm really scared!”

Eventually something did get through to me, after the stress I'd felt trying not to outburst with agitation, however, and my heart clenched just a bit at her crying, being a twin had its side effects, one of them being sympathy. This sympathetic reaction made me sigh and look away, I honestly didn't know what to tell her, every part of me tightened with the fear of being subjected to stigma if I mentioned anything. Yet, here I was, on the verge of breaking after everything I've experienced, the stress of debating whether or not I should say something, put enough stress on me. My toes curled and uncurled, my knees pulling up close to my chest, arms around them as if to keep myself secure, resting my head on my knees. Out of anger from holding all of this in an internal bottle within my gut, a response croaked out, along with a grunt, my facial expression twisted to that of upset. My voice wavering while I spoke out something that just filtered beyond my mind.

“Mabel...some times, I just contemplate why we're here, what's reality anyways?”

Clenching onto my clothed legs tightly with my nails, darker azure irises glossed with the hidden eruption about to take place. Mouth twitching as I tried my best not to break, closing in on shivering as the emotional disturbance overtook me.

“Dipper? A-Are you okay?”

My anxiety beginning to rocket up as the idea of revealing these experiences...I felt so paranoid she'd criticize me for what I'm going through, yet suddenly, I just began crying myself. My entire being shaking as the tears stung my dried eyes, sniffling softly. It felt as though my heart was being gripped tight and bled out the stress I've been enduring alone. It was time to finally reveal the truth to the only person I still had a tinge of trust left in.

“I...I don't know Mabel...I...I'm scared.”

“Of what?”

I could hear her trying to be strong for me now, realizing I was actually crying for once, never had I shown this side to anyone, maybe when I was a baby I did...but as a young teen, never in my life.

“I...I'm scared!”

I was actually very grateful our parents weren't in here, no doubt would she tell our parents though, I should make it clear, I know Elliot would make me do horrible things if I let anyone know but I'm sure as hell terrified now that I'm not hiding it.

“I...I'm...Mabel don't tell anyone, but...Bill's after me again.”

“Wait, what? I thought he couldn't escape from the town though! Isn't he dead anyways?”

“Listen, h-he's haunting me...I've been seeing and hearing, I've been hearing someone or something...mocking me.”

“Dipper, he can't haunt you, I promise, or else he'd be haunting me too!”

“Mabel...please, help me out here, he'll make me do bad things if I say anything and he's around. He's quiet for now but I'm afraid!”

I began to sob and break down in front of her, landing close by on the couch cushion with a soft thud. Everything, every stress I'd held in the past few months, was coming back in full swing. My entire body shook as I sobbed, which in turn, actually was loud enough that my parents came right in immediately. Oh no…please Mabel, don't turn against me and tell them!

“Dipper! What's wrong?”

I could clearly hear the tone in my mother's voice, I couldn't look at her, she would ask so many questions and I was not ready to answer those. I had to fake this, I couldn't bear to tell her or our dad, it wasn't my strongest point to go on talking about problems as such.

“Um...you know...t-teenage hormones? I...I just wanted to cry, okay?”

This attention was too much right now, I felt sickened right now and swallowed down the weight I felt in my throat from crying. I was trembling all over but I didn't waste time to talk to them about the issues I had, not staying longer to be given a Q and A session. I gathered the energy enough to get up from the couch, my face turned from my parents the entire time as I hurried off to my bedroom. I knew all my family was worried and that's the least thing I wanted right now.

As you probably guessed, I went to my bedroom yet again, it was the only place I felt reasonably safe from worrisome people, of course locking it and shutting out anything that would bother my nerves. However, given some time with the silence, I heard distant malicious whispering, yet it was incoherent, as it usually was but the last time it was a shorter and quieter, and following up, a far off scream of a child. I became anxious instantly, refraining from moving as I was positioned on the bed and laying snuggled up in my comforter with facing to the wall, yet curiosity possessed me...I dared peek around the other side of my bed, glancing and seeing a shadow head peeking out from my opened closet door. I immediately jolted upward, finding it to come back every time I looked away and returned to seeing it.  
My reaction was that of similar to earlier, crying, I became filled with fear once more and that's when I got surprised to hear someone knocking on my door. I didn't answer at first but it seemed insistent, the knocking...so I finally answered to see if it was real or not, or rather, if it was a person in this household.

“Y-Yeah?” 

My voice was nasally and portrayed fear with little effort, but soon got soothed as I heard Mabel's voice come from the opposing side of the door, her own vocals placed with major worry.

“Dipper! Please let me in! I...I'll talk with you alone, okay? Just...let me in.”

I was weary about this, but I was in desperate need of consolation after that terrifying shadowy head. I'm actually surprised that scared me as opposed to any other shadows I've seen...but that head seemed to be pressuring to watch me when I wasn't looking right at it. Just in case it would come back and haunt me, I rushed to my door and jiggled the knob out of panic as I opened it, my breathing uneven while my heart raced quite quickly. Once it opened, I fell weak into Mabel's arms right away, hugging onto her tightly as though I'd fear of dying or losing her perhaps.

“M-Mabel, it was...it was watching me! Please, help me.”  


“Shhh...it's okay, what was it though?”

“A shadow...man...in my closet.”

“He can't hurt you, okay? I'll fight him if he keeps doing that.”

“He-He was there, what if he comes back?”

“Want to have me stay here with you for a while?”

I was quietly sobbing but nodded and led her into my dark room, I could see the softness in her facial expression, she tried to stay calm for me this time. Though she looked around and softly sighed outward.

“Well, I know you being in the dark won't help with shadow people, they love the dark. You need some light.”

“B-But the lights hurt my eyes.”

“Maybe have a softer light that doesn't hurt?”

“H-How?”

“There's things called night lights, silly.”

She laughed softly and tried to lighten the mood, still holding me close to show she would secure me while I was panicking. The conversation alone helped me to relax some, my sobs turning into deep breaths as I tried to even my breathing and calm down. 

“Plus, bro-bro, there's one thing wrong with shadow people, they are a lot like mice, they're more scared of you than you are of them.”

“They're so scary...”

“Trust me, why do you think they stay behind us so much? Plus remember, they don't like light.”

I was hesitant to believe her, yet it was relaxing to think of it like that, some how shadow people scared me even after the adventures I had back in the summer time. A smile eventually plastered itself onto my face, attempting to laugh, albeit nasally of course. My arms were wrapped around her torso while I did my best to calm down.

“Th-Thanks Mabel...”

“Any time for you Dip, we should have a sleep over tonight if you want, I'm sure it'd help keep those scary things away too.”

“O-Okay.”

I will admit that did sound nice, after all of that business, I don't think I could bear to have my privacy invaded by a shadow man in my closet. If Bill was trying to trick me, he was doing a poor job, I do remember him being more obnoxious and direct anyways. Yet, my brain remained sticking with it being that demon. I just hoped soon he'd stop, I was starting to get tired of these issues, I didn't know what to do by this point, anything except being subjected to get medical help.

**Author's Note:**

> I initially wanted this as a short novel/story and had no idea about doing a second chapter as it is. However, if anyone wants more by popular demand, I'll think about making more for this story.  
> Sorry if it seems rushed or lacking in some areas! I'm not very good at figuring out if certain parts should be edited or not.


End file.
